Location:  Hybrid — 3 days per week (minimum) at our Brixton office, London SW9

Reports to:  Chief Executive

Team:  Five direct reports

Salary:  £35,000 – £50,000 depending on experience, plus performance bonus

Brands:  The Adventure People, The Holiday People, and our travel trade channel

Summary

We are looking for a numerate, analytically minded manager to run the team that looks after our customers — from the first enquiry through to the day they get home — across both consumer brands and our travel trade channel.

Key Responsibilities

Efficiency and workload

• Understand where the workload actually comes from — by brand, by day, by hour, by type of contact — and staff against the demand rather than against habit

• Build and run the rota: cover across our opening hours, peaks, weekends and absence, without carrying idle capacity in the quiet periods

• Own contacts per booking as the governing measure of how efficiently we run, and drive it down quarter by quarter

• Set and publish service standards — response times, resolution times, call answer rates — and manage the team against them

• Identify avoidable contact: the enquiries created by an unclear page, a confusing email or a step the customer cannot complete themselves. Get the cause fixed rather than absorbing the volume

• Work with the technology team on what to improve next, and bring the evidence for why it should be that thing and not another

• Forecast the resource the team needs ahead of the season, and say so early

Customers, complaints and relationships

• Own the customer experience end to end —from enquiry to return

• Take personal ownership of complaints and escalations, and handle the genuinely difficult cases yourself

• Establish a named escalations specialism so complex cases sit with someone equipped for them rather than interrupting everyone

• Handle supplier failures, itinerary changes and real problems with judgement and speed

• Protect our service reputation. We compete on it, and review scores are a company-level measure

• Build the relationships that bring customers back — our repeat rate is a business priority, and it is won or lost in this team

Enquiries and conversion

• Own the handling of every enquiry that reaches a person, across The Adventure People, The Holiday People and the trade

• Set individual targets, coach against them, and hold people to them fairly and consistently

• Make sure our highest-value enquiries — tailor-made trips and our own Originals range — reach the people best equipped to convert them

• Raise average booking value through better consultative selling, not discounting

• Work closely with marketing so the leads we pay for are handled properly when they arrive

Leading and building the team

• Lead, develop and motivate a team of five, with the structure to grow as volume does

• Establish two named specialisms — escalations and travel trade — and support both people into those roles

• Put in place proper rhythms: one-to-ones, performance reviews, clear objectives and honest feedback

• Build cover and resilience so no customer waits because one person is away

• Recruit well when we do add to the team

Trade and multi-brand

• Support the growth of our travel trade channel, which we intend to take from a standing start to a meaningful share of sales

• Ensure agent bookings are serviced to the same standard as direct ones

• Run all three brands from one team without letting any of them become the one that gets neglected

Data and reporting

• Report clearly and honestly on team and service performance at our weekly business review — the numbers, what is behind them, and what you are doing about them

• Build your own analysis rather than waiting to be given it: we expect you to be fluent in a spreadsheet and comfortable interrogating a report

• Keep our mid-office and CRM records accurate enough that the rest of the business can rely on them

What We're Looking For

• We want someone used to structured thinking and to handling evidence properly

• Genuinely numerate and data-driven: comfortable with conversion rates, average booking value, response times and capacity planning, and able to see what is really moving a number

• A demonstrable record of running a customer-facing or operational team and improving how it performs — we will want to talk about specific numbers

• Experience managing people directly, including the harder conversations

• Practical experience of rotas, scheduling or capacity planning against uneven demand

• Calm and credible on a complaint: able to step into a difficult case and leave the customer better disposed to us than when it started

• Systems-minded — the instinct to improve a process rather than work around it

• Genuinely comfortable with change. This team will look different in eighteen months and you would be the person leading that

• Able to work in a small business where you will do the job as well as manage it

Nice to have

• Travel industry experience, particularly adventure, touring or another considered high-value purchase

• A formal grounding in process improvement — Lean, Six Sigma or similar

• Exposure to the travel trade or another B2B partner channel

• Experience of a business investing seriously in automation and customer self-service

• Experience of scaling a team through significant volume growth

What Success Looks Like

Because this role is new, it is worth being specific.

• In the first three months: you know the team and the work, the rota is built from demand rather than inherited, individual targets and service standards are set and understood, the escalations and trade specialisms are named, and you have a clear view of where enquiries are being lost and where avoidable contact is being created

• By six months: conversion on agent-handled enquiries is measurably up, contacts per booking is trending down, the team has proper rhythms in place, and all three brands are serviced to a consistent standard

• By twelve months: the team is handling materially higher volume at the same headcount, complaints are resolved faster and fewer of them reach the Chief Executive, trade is growing to plan, review scores are holding or improving, and you are telling us what to fix next rather than waiting to be told

Why This Role?

• A genuine leadership role reporting directly to the Chief Executive, with a seat at the table on how the business grows

• A team to build and shape rather than a machine to maintain

• Real influence over technology and process — if something is broken you are expected to say so and help fix it

• A business that measures itself properly and will back a decision that has evidence behind it

• Adventure travel: a product customers genuinely love, sold by a team that cares about it

Package

• £40,000 – £50,000 depending on experience, plus performance bonus

• Hybrid working — 3 days a week (minimum) in our Brixton office

• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays

• Company pension scheme

• Discounts across every holiday we sell

About Us

World Adventures Ltd operates The Adventure People and The Holiday People. We are an online travel business in the adventure and touring space: we curate trips from operators around the world, and increasingly design and run our own. Since launching in 2017 we have grown to a multi-million-pound turnover on the back of a small team and a serious investment in technology.

We are ambitious about the next three years. Our plan rests on four things: continuing to invest in technology, growing the proportion of customers who travel with us more than once, curating genuine choice rather than duplicating it, and protecting our margin. This role touches three of the four.

How to Apply

Send your CV and a short note to hello@theadventurepeople.com. Tell us about a team or a process you have improved, how you knew it needed improving, and what the numbers looked like before and after — that will tell us more than a covering letter will.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If you meet most of the above and are enthusiastic about the rest, we would like to hear from you.

Reports to: CEO

Location: Hybrid — 3 days a week in our Brixton office, 2 from home

Salary: £32,000 – £40,000 depending on experience

Contract: Permanent, full time

Progression: Designed to develop into a Product Manager role

About us

World Adventures runs The Adventure People, an online adventure travel agency selling small-group tours from operators all over the world.

We are a small team. There is no layer between you and the decisions, and nobody to hand the difficult supplier conversation to. 

What you'll do

• Load and maintain the product range. Build new trips in our systems from operator content — itineraries, inclusions, departure dates, durations, images — and keep the live range accurate as operators change things.

• Own pricing and departures. Load and update prices, seasonal variations, single supplements and promotions across the range, and make sure what a customer sees is what we can actually sell.

• Be the day-to-day contact for our operators. Chase missing content, rates and dates, resolve discrepancies, and keep partners moving when they go quiet.

• Run product admin end to end. Manage the product data behind the site — naming, categorisation, duplicates, retiring trips that no longer sell — so the range stays clean rather than sprawling.

• Support contracting. Prepare the numbers for rate and commission negotiations, track what each operator pays us, keep contracts and renewal dates in order, and take on straightforward negotiations yourself as you build confidence.

• Watch how the range performs. Use sales data to flag what sells, what doesn't and where we are carrying twelve versions of the same trip — and bring recommendations rather than reports.

What success looks like after 12 months

New trips go live quickly and correctly without anyone chasing you. Prices and departures are right, and errors reaching customers are rare enough to be notable. Our operators come to you first, not to the CEO. You know which parts of the range earn their place and which do not, and you have made the case for changing at least some of it.

What we're looking for

Required

• Experience in a travel product, reservations, operations or contracting role — or a strong administrative background with clear evidence you can handle detailed data accurately.

• Genuinely careful with detail. Much of this job is getting hundreds of small things exactly right; a wrong price or date is a commercial problem, not a typo.

• Confident dealing with suppliers by email and on calls, including when you need something they haven't sent.

• Comfortable with spreadsheets — filtering, comparing, and working out what a set of numbers is telling you.

• Well organised, able to hold a lot of parallel work without dropping things, and effective with limited supervision.

Preferred

• Experience with a reservation, booking or product-loading system.

• Exposure to rate or commission negotiation, however small.

• Personal travel experience in the regions we sell — Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent.

• Interest in the commercial side: margin, mix, and what a product range should look like.

We are not asking for a degree. We would rather see accuracy and initiative than a long CV.

Being honest about the role

The first six months are weighted towards loading and admin. It is detailed, repetitive work, and someone who only wants strategy will be unhappy in it. In exchange, you will learn our entire product range and the economics underneath it faster than by any other route into this business — which is why the progression into Product Manager is real rather than decorative.

Progression

The role is built to develop into Product Manager as the range, the commercial responsibility and your own judgement grow. That means owning operator relationships and negotiations in your own right, shaping which trips we sell and which we drop, and contributing to how the product range is built. Timing depends on you, not on a fixed calendar.

Package

• £32,000 – £40,000 depending on experience

• Hybrid working: 3 days in the office, 2 from home

• 25 Days annual leave

• Company pension

• Travel benefits, including familiarisation trips and staff rates with our operators

• A first-in-seat role with the scope to shape how product works here

How to apply

Send your CV and a short note on why this role interests you to chris@theadventurepeople.com. We review applications as they arrive and will close the role when we find the right person.

Role Summary

We are a modern travel company specialising in adventure holidays and small group guided tours worldwide. We combine market-leading technology with exceptional people to deliver inspiring, seamless customer journeys.

This role sits at the heart of the business — owning the full customer lifecycle from first enquiry through to departure. You will be responsible for converting customer enquiries into bookings, then managing and supporting those customers pre-departure, ensuring every trip is perfectly prepared and every customer feels confident, excited, and looked after.

This is a hybrid sales + service role, ideal for someone who thrives on both closing deals and delivering outstanding customer experience.

This role reports into the Travel Experience Team Lead.

Core Objectives

● Convert inbound enquiries into bookings at a high rate

● Ensure Trade bookings are fully processed

● Deliver market-leading service throughout the journey

● Ensure every customer is fully prepared and ready to travel

● Maximise revenue through upsells and repeat business

● Take full ownership of your customers from enquiry to departure

Key Responsibilities

1. Sales & Conversion

● Manage inbound enquiries across phone, email, chat and CRM (across direct customers

and trade enquiries)

● Convert enquiries into bookings using strong consultative sales techniques

● Follow up leads proactively to maximise conversion

● Maintain accurate records in CRM / mid-office systems

● Cross-sell and upsell (flights, accommodation, transfers, extras)

2. Customer Experience & Pre-Departure Service

● Act as the main point of contact for customers after booking

● Handle all pre-departure queries efficiently and professionally

● Ensure all booking elements are completed:

○ Traveller details

○ Payments & balance collection

○ Documentation & vouchers

○ Final joining instructions

● Manage amendments, changes and operator communications

3. Revenue Growth & Commercial Focus

● Maximise ancillary revenue through proactive customer contact

● Recommend relevant upgrades and additional products

● Drive repeat bookings and referrals through exceptional service

● Use preferred partners and suppliers where appropriate

4. Systems, Process & Organisation

● Use CRM and communication tools to manage pipeline and customers

● Maintain clear, accurate and up-to-date booking records

● Ensure all tasks and workflows are completed on time

● Identify opportunities to improve processes and customer journey

● Work collaboratively with sales, service, and operations teams

5. Customer Communication Excellence

● Deliver fast, clear and engaging communication

● Manage expectations and resolve issues proactively

● Provide a seamless omnichannel experience (phone, email, chat)

● Build trust and long-term relationships with customers

Who We’re Looking For

Mindset

● Takes full ownership of customers and results

● Highly organised and able to manage multiple bookings at once

● Commercially aware with a focus on revenue and efficiency

● Calm under pressure and solution-oriented

● Strong team player with excellent communication

Skills & Experience

● Minimum 2 years’ experience in travel sales, customer service, or similar

● Proven ability to convert enquiries into bookings

● Experience managing customers post-sale / pre-departure

● Comfortable using CRM systems and communication tools

● Strong written and verbal communication skills

● Organised with high attention to detail

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

● Conversion rate (%)

● Revenue per booking

● Ancillary revenue per customer

● Customer satisfaction / NPS

● Booking accuracy and completion rates

● Response times to enquiries and customer queries

Package

● Minimum base salary of £30k

● Eligibility to the commission scheme (expected OTE £35k - £45k)

● Office based 3 days per week

● 25 days holiday plus bank holidays

● Eligibility for application to FAM trips

● Discounts available on trips

● 10% discount for friends and family

● 1 months' notice period